Carmine Lupertazzi Sr. (1930-2004) was boss of the Lupertazzi crime family from the 1950s until his death in 2004. His death in 2004 weakened the family, which was divided into factions supporting opposing candidates for the succession. Ultimately, his right-hand man Johnny Sacrimoni succeeded him as boss.
Biography[]
Carmine Lupertazzi Sr. was born in New York City, New York in 1930, and he kept a low profile for most of his criminal career, operating out of his social clubs and restaurants. In 1951, he orchestrated the CCNY point shaving scandal in college basketball, buying a Cadillac Fleetwood from the small fortune he won by betting on the game. During the 1980s, he was arrested and acquitted of labor racketeering charges, and his family became the largest and wealthiest of New York's Five Families. The calm and calculating Lupertazzi was a powerful and respected boss even as he grew old, and he groomed his son Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. to succeed him. This caused friction with his underboss Johnny Sacrimoni, and both authorized DiMeo crime family boss Tony Soprano to put a hit on the other, although the hits were called off. In 2004, Lupertazzi suffered a massive stroke while having lunch with Soprano, Sacrimoni, and his consigliere Angelo Garepe at his country club, and he died in the hospital about a week later. His death led to the family being torn apart by civil war between Sacrimoni and his son.